Promise!

Chapter 56, Military Achievements

The next day was the first day of February.

Zhuang Jin came to the General Affairs Department as he did last month. He first went to the Salary Department and collected this month's allowance of three taels of silver, as well as one tael of silver for last month's work.

The job of teaching martial artists is paid only one or two taels of silver. This month, I only have one student who becomes a formal martial artist. I didn't get any reward, but I didn't have any money deducted either. I can only say it's okay.

He took four taels of silver and left, secretly calculating his finances: "I had eight taels and eight qian of silver left from the month before last, and I received a two tael gift from Master Ping. At the beginning of last month, I received a double monthly allowance of six taels. After deducting the seven taels and five qian of silver I spent on cultivation supplies last month, and the two qian of silver I spent on the Black Evil Palm medicine bag, I still have nine taels and one qian of silver left. Add these four taels, and I have a total of thirteen taels and one qian of silver... This month, before I break through the Three Sutras, I really don't have to worry about money."

"After the three periods of time, I may be short of money next month. Whether I borrow money or not, we'll have to wait and see. It's just like building a path through the mountains and a bridge over the water."

Zhuang Jin received his monthly salary and errand money, and came to the mission office to choose his mission. As soon as he arrived, he heard a commotion. It turned out that it was because of the war merit reform.

Coming to the window where Chang Hetong was, the other party nodded slightly and handed over the task catalog, as well as a set of rules for obtaining military merits and a list of military merit redemption.

Zhuang Jin came to the side and watched, and quickly understood the rules of combat merit.

In the past, the reward for killing a person was silver, but now it is equal to the military merit.

The standard for determining military merits is basically the monthly number of the corresponding level for one year for levels one to three: for example, killing a warrior of the Medicine King Gang who has reached the first level is worth 12 military merits; killing a warrior of the Medicine King Gang who has reached the second level is worth 36 military merits; killing a warrior of the Medicine King Gang who has reached the third level is worth 120 military merits, with a slight upward fluctuation.

For the fourth to sixth levels, the monthly numbers correspond to the three years of the corresponding level. For example, killing a fourth-level warrior from the Medicine King Gang would be worth 360 military merits... and so on.

- Frankly speaking, this approval standard is far from perfect. If you really want to find fault, you can find many problems in it, but it is already the more reasonable one among the many proposals collected, and the optimal solution considering the cost.

The military merits gained can be exchanged for silver. One point of military merit can be exchanged for one or two taels of silver. It can also be exchanged for items on the military merit list.

Zhuang Jin looked at the list of military merit redemption.

[Shuluo Pills: After taking, it can help break through bottlenecks in one to six meridians! (Note: Taking Shuluo Pills does not guarantee that you will break through the current bottleneck. The effect will vary depending on individual constitutions and the specific meridian bottlenecks.)]

[Exchange requirement: 600 combat merits/piece]

……

[Exotic Beast Meat for Entry-Level Skin Polishing: Suitable for cultivation by first- and second-level warriors. Consuming it will boost Qi and blood, increasing cultivation speed by 30%!]

[Exchange requirement: 1 combat merit/jin]

……

[Exotic Beast Meat for the Minor Stage of Skin Polishing: Suitable for cultivation by Three Scriptures Warriors. After consuming it, it will boost Qi and blood, and can increase cultivation speed by 30%!]

[Exchange requirement: 5 combat merit/jin]

……

[Exotic Beast Leather Armor (Yellow Grade, Low Grade): Wearing this armor, covering all parts of the body, can effectively weaken the strength of warriors of the first and second sutras!]

[Exchange for War Merit: 50/item]

……

[Exotic Beast Leather Armor (Yellow Grade, Mid-Level): Wearing this armor, covering all parts of the body, can effectively weaken the strength of warriors of the Three Scriptures!]

[Exchange for War Merit: 250/item]

……

"Shuluo Pills, a pill that helps break through bottlenecks?" Zhuang Jin glanced at the Shuluo Pills on top and shook his head slightly. He didn't need this.

'Besides, looking at the notes, it's only effective for bottlenecks from one to six meridians, and it may not guarantee a 100% breakthrough of the current bottleneck!' He pondered for a moment and understood what this meant: 'If it's a bottleneck for a first-level warrior, or a bottleneck for a second or third meridian, taking Shuluo Pills should have a close to 100% success rate. But if it's the first, slightly larger bottleneck like the fourth meridian, the success rate may not be 100%. The bottlenecks of the fifth and sixth meridians are also lower... The most correct way to use Shuluo Pills is for the warrior to wear down his own bottleneck to a certain extent, and then take it when he can no longer make any progress.'

"For me, this thing is both expensive and useless. But think about it from another perspective. I have no bottleneck. It's like taking a Shuluo Pill every time I break through a realm. I earn 600 battle merits, which is 600 taels of silver. And it has a 100% success rate and no possible side effects. I'm afraid even the young master of the Shen family may not be able to get this treatment!"

Zhuang Jin thought about it and felt quite refreshed.

"Shuluo Pills are fine, but exotic beast meat and hide are valuable. The former can speed up cultivation; the latter can dissolve and weaken strength. They are truly life-saving items!"

The two are divided into different levels, which is also easy to understand. Taking the meat of exotic beasts as an example, warriors of the first and second levels can increase their training speed by 30% by eating the meat of exotic beasts that has been polished to the entry level. But for warriors of the third level, the effect will be weakened by eating the meat of exotic beasts that has been polished to the entry level, and it may not even reach 10%.

The same goes for exotic beast leather armor. Low-grade yellow-level exotic beast leather armor has a good effect on reducing the strength of warriors in the first and second stages, but it may have little effect on the strength of warriors in the third stage.

"Alas, exotic beast meat and hides are nice, and I naturally want them, but my life and steady growth are more important. I must avoid the trap of picking up sesame seeds and losing the watermelon!"

Zhuang Jin warned himself, resisted temptation, and thought calmly. He quickly discovered two blind spots: "Over at the medicinal fields outside the city, Bi Kai said there are only a few exotic beasts. Can they be freely available for exchange with battle merit? Also, the monthly benefit for a second-level servant is a pound of ground-skinned entry-level exotic beast meat, which is only one penny of silver. Why is it that on this battle merit exchange list, even a little battle merit is equivalent to one or two ounces of silver, and it has suddenly increased tenfold?"

At this time, the discussions of other warriors were heard nearby.

"Is it wrongly priced? Why is this exotic beast meat so expensive? It costs one pound of war merit, and it's only for skin grinding to get you into the entry level?"

"Hehe, you don't know this, right? Our medicinal fields outside the city can't supply such a large amount of exotic beast meat. The exotic beast meat on the exchange list is all shipped from the state capital, so of course it's expensive."

"State capital? Our Cangzhou state capital? That's quite far away, no wonder."

……

Zhuang Jin nodded slightly upon hearing this, his previous doubts dispelled, but a new one arose: "Why can't the prefectural city supply such a large amount of exotic beast meat, but the state capital can? Is it because of the state capital's unique exotic beast cultivation technology, or is there some other reason?"

However, the other warriors who were discussing this point could not explain it clearly, and not even a three-marked servant knew about it.

"That's right. After all, most people only know what's happening in front of their homes, or at most within a few miles. In comparison, these warriors are quite knowledgeable, but their knowledge is basically limited to the prefectural capital. How can they know what's happening far away in the provincial capital?"

He shook his head slightly, temporarily suppressing his doubts, and went to register for this month's job first. He chose to be a martial arts instructor. When he came out, he found Qian Wende waiting for him.

"Brother Zhuang, you are really amazing. You were right. This month, I am still in the team of Shangyue Street." Qian Wende said happily.

"Not bad." Zhuang Jin nodded slightly.

It's not surprising. Apart from the south of the city and the area adjacent to the Medicine King Gang, the north of the city is relatively dangerous and needs people the most. Since they are assigned to the north of the city, it will definitely be more suitable for them to go to the old place where they have stayed for a month and adapted to it than to the new place.

"Haozi, Xiang Qichen, and I were assigned to the north of the city. Our streets and teams remained unchanged. Jiao Kun was sent to another place in the north of the city. That street is right next to another street occupied by the Medicine King Gang."

Qian Wende gloated over this and added, "It must be related to his visit to the Half-Open Door last month..."

Zhuang Jin also agreed.

In fact, just as they guessed, people like Jiao Kun were already despised by everyone in the street and team where he was last month. He would definitely not be wanted this month. If it weren't for the fact that three months had not yet passed, he would probably have been thrown directly to the south of the city, near the Medicine King Gang.

For Jiao Kun, changing to a new street and team was not a good thing. After all, he had to get familiar with it again, and the new street was more dangerous.

Afterwards, Zhuang Jin learned that Lin Hong and Bi Kai, who still had the opportunity to choose a mission, chose the Shen family headquarters and the medicinal fields outside the city respectively last month. Xiong Lei chose the Shen family headquarters last month, but this month he did not have such a good opportunity and was also thrown to the north of the city.

There was nothing else to say, so Bi Kai and the others came over to say goodbye and left to go on their respective duties.

……

(End of this chapter)